


Love at First Type

by CelioCian



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Actors, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 08:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13407681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelioCian/pseuds/CelioCian
Summary: Neither Gaku nor Tenn were particularly interested in this drama, casting them as a pining couple who could do nothing but argue in place of spitting out their feelings. The plot was ludicrous and they both were dreading the inevitable kisses throughout the show. Imagine their distaste when they were told they cast as the main characters… For all weekly 11 episodes.





	Love at First Type

The first indication that Gaku was given even regarding the existence of the drama in the first place was the two sides scripts for him and Ryunosuke on the coffee table with Tenn sitting nearby. He had already snatched up one of the three and absconded to an armchair in the corner, his legs dangling over one of the arms and his attention towards the booklet. Gaku assumed the pencil in his mouth was actually for taking notes.

Tenn either hadn’t noticed him yet or, more accurately, didn’t care that he had entered the room; he made his way over to the sides and picked one up, his eyebrow arching slightly. “ _Love at First Type_? That’s…”

Tenn cut him off, not taking his gaze from the booklet but at least adjusting his grip on it to scribble a quick note. “Stupid? Yes, I know. I said as much already.” His pencil returned to his mouth, but only tapping at the corner of his lips this time. “You and Ryuu have sides for the main character and I have one for the love interest. Unless, of course, they want the son of an inn owner to be a hulking brute.”

Gaku ignored the last comment and flipped through the script, frowning; not only was Ryunosuke most likely a better fit for the part in the long term, but if Tenn got the part of the love interest, that would mean hell. “Has the synopsis been released? Or is there an NDA?” He was initially just passing through, but he was curious and minorly invested now - besides, the thought of Tenn and Ryuu kissing on television amused him to a degree. He sat on one of the sofas and brought his feet up to the coffee table, turning to the first page.

He caught Tenn turning his head towards him out of the corner of his eye before quickly returning his attention to the papers - it was the first time he had torn his gaze away from the side so perhaps it was a decent story if his undivided attention was turned to it.. Tenn shifted his position slightly before speaking, though distracted as he scribbled a note in the margin. “From what I was told, an author with writer’s block goes to an inn in the middle of nowhere as a way to write his next book, he sees the inn owner’s son, he falls in love.” Tenn sighed and flopped the script in his lap. “From the way these lines read, though, it sounds like they do nothing but scream at each other most of the time.”

Gaku let out a small laugh and glanced over the first page - Tenn was right. Most of the lines before him seemed more like the characters hated each other rather than pined for each other. There was a single roundabout compliment on the page among the callous remarks and flat out snippy insults… To be fair, however, he could understand where the character was coming from. Vaguely glancing over the lines that were unmarked lead him to the conclusion that the character Tenn was going to be reading for was quite similar to how he himself acted.

It made Gaku want the role even less. But did he have a choice? No. In the end, he was going to audition and pray to every deity in the sky that he would not be forced into this role which included kissing and (god forbid) having a sex scene with Tenn Kujo. He choked back a gag and returned his attention back to the script. He’d actually try at the audition, yes, but perhaps not at his best potential.

The audition. He realized he had no idea when it was. If Tenn was marking his script so furiously, perhaps it was tomorrow… Then again, this was Tenn he was talking about, who could be writing all over his script and the audition not be for a month. He frowned and spoke up. “Tenn when is this audition?”

He stopped writing and blinked for a moment, blearily, as if he had been staring at the sides for an hour too long, then switched his pencil to his free hand. Tenn awkwardly brought his body up, his back arching in a unnatural way over the arm of the chair as he attempted to pull his phone out of his pocket. He clicked the home button and stared at it for a second before tossing it in his lap, saying, “Our audition is Thursday, starting at noon with lunch included. They could only get Ryuu in on Friday. If I had to take a guess, callbacks… Saturday or Sunday. Tuesday, a week from today, at the latest.”

That explained why he was more curt and distracted than usual; the audition was in a little under 48 hours. It was just enough time to be considered familiar with the material but just little enough that it was hard to decide whether to memorize it or not. The two of them were in for problems, while Ryuu was allowed his extra day due to a god forsaken photo shoot. Gaku wasn’t happy with the best course of action at the moment, but he had no other choice. “What part are you reading? I’ll read with you.”

Tenn had just moved his pencil back to his dominant hand and was beginning to take notes again. He stopped for a moment before gingerly swinging his legs off the arm of the chair he was in, now placing his feet flat on the ground and sitting up straight - the transformation of his position was amusing. He neatly tucked the pencil behind his ear, pushing it down momentarily to force it to stay alongside his glasses. He opened his script and glanced up at Gaku, then back at it. “Page four.”

“‘You’re living here for nine months? Are you pregnant and escaping the father? Either way, stay out of my room and maybe we’ll get along.’” Typically when Tenn reads a character, you can sense how he becomes different, someone not himself. He becomes the character and embodies their every movement. Yet, with this… He seemed so incredibly him. It was almost frightening.

It took Gaku a second to process Tenn’s line - he had  to make sure it was indeed a line and not something Tenn himself had decided to say in that moment. When he saw Tenn’s eyes begin to move up from the script towards him, he hurriedly replied with his own line. “‘What makes you think I would ever go into your room? I don’t plan on going places I don’t belong. I could say the same to you, though; your family owns this place so surely you have access to all the rooms.’” He spoke coldly, honestly as if he were speaking to Tenn. This character was easy enough to read for if he and Tenn were paired in the audition room.

Tenn crossed his legs before responding back with his own line. It seemed to be more as if he was just getting comfortable, but with this character, perhaps his movements were more for dramatic effect. “‘Like I would do that. I don’t want to walk into your room and find weird stuff. You seem like one of those weird perverts that grope people on subways.’”

Gaku let his eyes drop from Tenn and back onto the page; he tried to rely on audible cues rather than any sort of body language. “‘I can assure you I’m not. May I go to my room now or will you continue to lecture me?’”

He heard Tenn let out a groan but he, again, couldn’t tell whether it was Tenn himself or the part he was playing. He elected to assume it was for the inn-owner’s son. “‘That’s what I got sent here for in the first place. Mom said I had to help you carry your bags.’”

A slow breath escaped from his mouth as he tried to imitate the character’s frustration. “‘I only have one bag and can easily carry it myself. You go hurry off somewhere and be a good boy; maybe play outside with your friends.’” There were stage directions for Gaku’s character to start walking away, but he ignored them in lieu of continuing to sit.

Tenn seemed to have the same idea, staying firmly planted in his seat. “‘I’ll have you know that I’m not a child anymore. I’m eighteen, nearly an adult by Japanese standards and legal in most countries.’” Tenn paused for a moment halfway through the line and Gaku glanced up to look at him. His nose was scrunched in distaste. “The author really is one to state everything up front, isn’t he?”

Gaku let himself laugh and flipped through the rest of the script, skimming across the rest of the scenes provided for them to study. Tenn was right - if he had to guess, the screenwriter was a novice, this show perhaps even being his first work. “I suppose that explains the title, hm?” He sighed and put his feet on the ground, slouching back into his seat slightly. “We still have three more scenes to look over, not to mention blocking. Let’s continue.”

They spent much of the afternoon like that, reading through the lines and nitpicking at them. It eventually got to the point where they would start switching them out. Tenn would take his pencil and erratically wiggle it back and forth as if he had a personal vendetta against the text. “Ew, no. Scratch that out on your end. Replace it with ‘Because we’re friends, aren’t we?’”

Gaku would do the same, though, giving the script odd glances when the line stated the obvious or blocking that made little to no sense in the space they were given. Tenn’s favorite was one of Gaku’s lines: “‘I am an author and authors write!’” He spoke the line with as much gusto as possible, trying, and succeeding, at making the immensely dramatic scene hilarious. The outcome was Tenn hunched over in his chair, laughing hard enough that tears pricked at his eyes and all he could do was beg for air.

By the time they had ripped the lines to shreds, it was past dinner. Gaku had just haphazardly glanced at a clock on the wall by chance while Tenn was still laughing over one of the previous lines. It nearly choked when he saw the time. “Tenn, have you eaten anything today?”

Tenn quieted his laughing some and gave Gaku an odd look in return. “What?” He followed Gaku’s gaze towards the clock and his reaction instantly turned the same. “Oh, shit! There’s no way we’ve been rehearsing for that long!” He groaned and tossed his script onto the table as he stuck his pen behind his ear, gracefully unfurling himself from the chair before heading towards another room; he tapped on his phone as he walked. “Dammit, what would be open right now…? Convenience store? Ugh, I hate convenience store food but like we have another choice.” Gaku began to open his mouth to offer a suggestion, but Tenn quickly cut him off, nearly immediately. “I am _not_ getting soba, Gaku; the last time I ate soba, I woke up in the middle of the night with my stomach just miserable.”

Sometimes it was better for Gaku to pick his battles and he decided this was one not to pursue. He leaned back in his seat and attempted to keep a sulk from rising to his face. “Fine, then. Convenience store food.” He grabbed both of the scripts and hit their bottoms against the table, lining them up, before standing up. “You have all those premade meals in the freezer. We could eat some of those an I’ll take you out for lunch sometime.”

He heard a quiet snort come from Tenn’s mouth as he headed to the kitchen, Gaku following from a slight distance. “I can handle that, I guess. It’s too cold to go out for food.” When Tenn opened the freezer, he had to stand on his toes to peer in. “You get no choice. Sorry. Not really.” Gaku’s could only roll his eyes as Tenn grabbed the containers from the freezer and stuck them into the microwave, jabbing at the numbers on the keypad.

Gaku flipped the pages of the two script under his thumb, feeling the edges of the paper bend and fold a little under the pressure. “Let’s run the blocking for scene two again; there’s still a part that bothers me.”

He reached over to hand Tenn his script which was promptly flung on the counter behind him, Tenn using both his hands to hoist himself to sit on the counter. Once up, he grabbed the script once more and skimmed to the page. “Scene two… Oh, do you mean that one bit where I’m sitting on the banister and you’re leaning on the doorframe?”

Gaku nodded and moved across from Tenn, leaning on the door frame to the kitchen to mimic the blocking. “Precisely. I don’t understand it; this scene is important, the two characters are on the verge of stating their love for one another yet they’re standing far apart. If they were this in love with each other, wouldn’t they be close together?”

Tenn plucked his pen from behind his ear and brought it back to its typical place at his lips, his teeth nipping at the eraser slightly. “You’re not wrong. Did you have anything in mind so I don’t just have it scratched out and ‘STUPID’ written above it?” One leg crossed over the other, his ankle rolling in circles aimlessly.

Gaku actually hadn’t thought of anything, but that mean he couldn’t improv it. He walked towards Tenn and placed a hand on his neck, about the location of his collarbone; his script he kept in his free hand, positioned behind Tenn’s head so he could read it. “‘You’re afraid of people. Afraid of getting close to them. It’s not hard to tell with the way you act.’”

He felt stiffen underneath him, a sharp breath coming through his nose but still managing to push out his lines. “‘I’m not afraid, just… Uncomfortable. Do you know how hard it is to keep up this act? Playing the angel… Mama thinks it’s good for business but it makes me want to scream.’” His kept the same tenseness as he said his line; his ankle had stopped its movement. He was still.

Gaku continued his act, allowing his hand to creep up from Tenn’s clavicle towards his cheek, his thumb brushing at the high point of his cheekbone so Tenn’s eye closed instinctively. The tenseness was still there. “‘You could just leave; make your way off into the world. That way you could do what you want. Be who you want to be. Contrary to what your mother thinks, this inn isn’t a microcosm.’” His eyes glanced over from the lines towards Tenn’s face.

Tenn almost looked afraid to answer - his brows were furrowed ever so slightly and his lips parted as if he was trying to think of a retort but his words were failing him. His cheeks seemed to be tinted pink, but Tenn quickly brought a hand up to scrub at them, as if that would get rid of his blush (or at least hide it). “‘I can’t just leave! Do you know how crazy that is?’”

Gaku felt a smirk gently grace across his lips - it was a rare occurrence to see Tenn embarrassed. Even if this was act embarrassed, he was smart enough to savor the moment. “‘I live in the city. You could always come with me when I leave.’” He brought a hand up to wrap a strand of Tenn’s hair around his finger, only to be caught off guard. He stopped his dialogue and continued his interest in Tenn’s hair. “What’s that smell? Did you buy a new shampoo?”

Tenn’s shoulders finally dropped in ease and his face twisted into a small smile, amused. He seemed to have no intention of pulling Gaku’s hand away. “Primrose, I think. I had to buy the scented shampoo because my unscented one was sold out.” He blew out a breath of air and his eyes rolled, seemingly annoyed. “And because I had to buy the primrose shampoo, the company also makes you buy certain ones to go with it, _which means_ that since my hair is so destroyed from all the products stylists put in it, I have to buy the honey and hibiscus stuff and-” He cut himself off and squinted at Gaku, his brows furrowed in disbelief. “Are you… Smiling at me?”

Gaku hadn’t caught himself yet, but he was. There was something about Tenn complaining about something so mundane that was humorous. He shook his head some and a laugh escaped his mouth. “Sorry, I just… Does that much work honestly need to go into hair? Tenn, how much are these bottles?”

The flush that had previously left Tenn’s face returned and he brought his hand up in the same motion, rubbing up and down at his cheek in a failing attempt to hide it. He seemed hesitant to answer but eventually did. “...Probably more than they should have. But they makes my hair soft, so I’d say it’s a worthy investment.”

As weird as his reasoning was, Tenn was right; his hair was actually very soft, not that Gaku cared… He had just felt it thanks to the blocking for the scene there had performed. If he was being honest, however, there really was something borderline addicting about playing with Tenn’s hair, wrapping it around his fingers…

“Ah! I’m sorry, ignore me!”

Gaku swiftly dropped his hand from Tenn’s hair and took a step back from him, turning on his heel to see who had entered the kitchen. Tenn seemed equally irritated, the flush now long gone and his eyes coolly staring down the newcomer.

Ryunosuke stood at the entrance to the kitchen, a bowl and spoon in his hands and his head ducked down a little, as if Tenn was a parent who had caught Ryunosuke’s hand in the cookie jar. “I was just gonna wash out my bowl… I’m sorry I interrupted your moment.” He shuffled over to the sink and gingerly placed his bowl, his head never lifting up. Gaku and Tenn watched as he went passed them.

Tenn’s ankle had restarted its movement, though a little quicker, a little less lazy. He kept his arms at his sides, his hands placed on the marble counter-top. “Ryuu, we were not ‘having a moment.’ If you had even tried to talk to us today, you would know we all have auditions later this week.” His fingers plucked up the script and held it up for him to see. “You haven’t even gotten your script all day… Were you binging a show again?”

Ryunosuke’s head never lifted from the sink as he began washing his bowl in monotonous motions. His voice was only a mumble. “Yes… That drama Gaku was in finally ended so I gotta chance to watch it. I was texting the Idolish7 manager about it since she was interested in it too…”

Gaku held his script in front of it and snapped it shut, pinching his finger on the spine and running them down it in one straight motion. “Ryuu, I understand if you wish to keep up with our works, but yours is absolutely more important. Go pick up your script and start studying it; Tenn and I have already adjusted our lines and blocking to more fit us while you haven’t done a single thing.”

His reaction was only a pout as he shut off the water, flicking the excess off his hands into the sink before rubbing what was left on his pants. “Yes mom, yes dad.” He spoke mostly under his breath, not enough to be loud but loud enough for both of them to hear. Gaku only gave him a stern look.

Tenn, however, was about as unamused as possible. His legs uncrossed and his eyebrows raised in annoyance. “I’m sorry, what was that? If you’re calling us your parents, then maybe you shouldn’t make it so we have to act like them; you’re an adult, do your own work and set your own schedule and maybe we won’t have to get on your case over it.” He motioned his hand to the door in a jerky movement. “Now get out there and grab your script before I shove it down your throat.” There was irritation in his voice - he was hardly hiding it, probably as a means of spurring Ryunosuke into action.

Both he and Gaku watched as Ryunosuke shuffled out just as he had come in, the both of them leaning ever so slightly to peer through the doorway to see whether or not he picked up his script on the way back to his room. Luckily, he did, earning a sigh of relief from Gaku. “I believe I’ll be eating in my room.” He took his food from the microwave, now long cold, not handing Tenn his own. Tenn was grown, he could get it himself.

He could feel Tenn’s eyes on him but he made no attempt to face towards him, instead focusing all his attention of grabbing his dinner and script. Tenn continued to watch him for a moment before finally speaking up. “Fine. I’ll probably do the same.” He mimicked Gaku’s motions, grabbing his food from the microwave, his script, his fork.

When Gaku looked backed at him, he almost seemed to be avoiding looking at him now. He thought it might be best not to respond at first, but he decided it wouldn’t hurt to say something. “What are we going to do tomorrow regarding the audition? Rehearse together again?”

Tenn stopped his movements momentarily before Gaku heard a quiet exhale go through his mouth. Tenn checked his phone but once again, did not turn in his direction. “No. If Ryuu hasn’t even touched his script, it would be better for me to rehearse with him tomorrow.” With that, he tucked his script under his arm, grabbed his dinner, and headed out of the kitchen and towards his room with only a quiet, “Bye-bye.”

Gaku glanced around the kitchen; he was the only one left in there now that Ryunosuke had gone to presumably read his script and Tenn suddenly deciding to seemingly avoid him. He rolled his script up and shoved it harshly in his back pocket, a bad habit he figured he needed to change, before scooping up his own cold container of food and heading to his own room. Maybe it was just his mood affecting him, but he felt like he should pick back up that crossword puzzle book he had picked up on a whim in a convenience store; riddles always seemed to calm his mind. It could get him off the thoughts of Tenn and his shampoo and that lingering thought in the back of his head: would he be stuck in that god-forsaken drama with the little brat?


End file.
